


The Healing Power of Nature

by PorbyDorble



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Depression, M/M, Nature, References to Depression, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:00:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23570467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PorbyDorble/pseuds/PorbyDorble
Summary: Eddie Kaspbrak is a ranger in a park he loves.When he comes across a sad figure in the park, can he finally find a human love, too?I DON'T KNOW, WHAT ARE THE ODDS OF THAT HAPPENING?
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8





	The Healing Power of Nature

**Author's Note:**

> This will have a long lead up, but will eventually become explicit. Just a warning.
> 
> I'll update tags as I figure out what's happening with *gestures wildly* all of this

Eddie breathed in the hot steam of his coffee. His face stung in the chill air, and he wrapped both hands around his mug, savoring the delicious heat seeping into his fingers. He was warm in all but his face and fingers- the olive drab uniform was heavy, waxed canvas and wool. The rolled brim of his hat warmed even his ears on this chilly day.

He took a few steps towards the edge of the viewing platform, sand crunching under his boots. The wind whipped in harshly off the lake. This far North, this close to the lake, it got cold early and often. It was barely October and already he had to bundle up in the mornings. He supposed it was the quick transition that made it seem all the colder, and by 10 he knew he’d be shucking layers like crazy, but he just could never bring himself to sacrifice the layers in the morning.

He balanced his travel mug on the wooden railing and squinted into the wind. The waves crashed rhythmically against the rock beach below the overlook, and Eddie could practically feel the sound washing away his stress, anchoring him to the moment. The sun hadn’t risen yet, but the horizon to the East was threatening light. He sucked in another heaving breath. He knew he needed to get moving, but this was one of his favorite perks to this job. As a park ranger, you needed to know your park, and these solitary moments simply enjoying the lake were how he got to know his park. The interior of the park could be dense, and wild, and beautiful, yes, but Eddie knew that the lake would always be his favorite part.

Still, his schedule demanded his departure… Now. So he turned and as he walked back to his vehicle, he could feel the wind at his back, helping him along. Don’t be late now, Eddie, you’ve got places to be.

Eddie was sad to leave the turnout, but glad to be encased back in the warm interior of the car. The vehicles were nothing fancy- they are government property after all, but god damn could the heaters blow.

Eddie grabbed the hand-held radio from the passenger side of the bench seat. He had 10 minutes, technically, before he was late, buuuut… the drive into the station was a tight 15 if he pushed it. Who was manning the station this morning? Could he get away with radioing in his shift start instead of making the long drive back to the visitor center? If it was Beverly manning the bank he could probably get away with the shortcut… worth it to try.

He depressed the button. Static cut the air briefly. “Hey, this is 489 out at scenic overlook 1.” He waited in silence, hoping. Please be Bev. Please be Bev. If it’s Nancy on shift, he’d definitely be late…

“Hey Eds, you’re early. What’s shaking?”

Eddie’s stomach unclenched. “Oh, hey Bev. Since I’m out at overlook 1, I want to just pop out to the basin area. You mind marking me out til 11?”

“Sure thing. You solo today?”

“Yeah, I’ll be solo all day. I’m just going to pop down the path, check out how bad that washout is from last Wednesday. I have a beacon.”

“Okay, will do. Watch yourself out there, alright?”

Eddie smiled. He knew the park well, and Beverly knew that… but she worried all the same. It made him glad that he had the budding friendship. It could get lonely for a single man up here all by himself, and it was nice to know that someone would notice (care?) if he didn’t make it back on time.

Before he knew it he was pulling in to the parking area of the basin. He climbed out of his toasty cocoon and back into the chill air. The snap of the car door shutting seemed wrong in the stillness of the park. He pulled out his pocket-sized notebook and compared his notes for the week to the vehicles left in the lot. Two overnight vehicles, hatchbacks parked right next to each other, which isn’t unheard of this time of year, and probably signaled some friends hiking out to the lake. He wouldn’t be surprised if the cars remained all weekend, or longer. 

One new vehicle had appeared in a corner of the lot, a loner. He could see the outline of where the wipers had cleared the dew on the windshield, so new this morning. Odd, but again, not unheard of if someone wanted to get out ahead of sunrise and make a full day of the hike. He would probably catch them up on the trail. After a few years of hiking for a living, almost 40 hours a week every week for 8 months of the year, he could clip along at a good pace. This time of year the cold air might catch in his lungs, cause a cough, aggravate his old asthma… but probably not, and he had an emergency inhaler tucked away in his waist bag, anyway.

He shucked off the stiff outer coat and tossed in back into his vehicle. His arms prickled up into gooseflesh. He hooked his radio onto his belt and set off across the lot. The faster he got moving down the trail, the faster he would warm up. It was a short hike to the washout, but with enough elevation change to get his thighs warmed up. As the wet bushes near the trailhead whipped at his arms he was grateful that at least mosquitoes were largely gone at this time of year.

He hit his pace quickly, his boots whomp-whomping softly as he worked his way down the trail into the basin. The air was cold and quiet, and his heavy heel strikes joined the soft swish of branches and the very occasional bird call as the only sounds. He allowed his attention to wander, his head swinging around to take in anything that caught his eye. At this time of year he always felt like he turned his head just fast enough, he could catch sight of fall waiting at the edges of the woods, ready to pounce the moment a breeze blew just the right way. 

He loved when the icy white of winter snows would reflect dazzling, glittering lights from the merest hint of sun. He loved the light green fingers of new spring life poking up from the mixed snow and mud, and the bright colors of new flowers bursting forth for a few days. He loved when the lush dark greens of summer took over everything, and the trees filled in and blocked out the sun, and made it seem like late evening in the middle of the woods, no matter the time of day. But more than anything he loved these days on the edge of fall, when he knew the world was about to change. Soon leaves would begin to fall. 

And couldn’t he already see a smattering of yellow mixed in among the green? Yes, there were the aspen, their tiny ochre hands trembling in the breeze as though they could sense and were afraid of their imminent death. He knew that soon the vegetation would fall away and bald branches would dominate here, where now you could see lush vegetation in any direction you looked. He supposed that knowing the leaves would soon die and fall away, that the beauty before him was fleeting, made him love it all the more in the moment.

Before he knew it he had reached the split in the trail. The left fork would take him down to his intended target- the washout. The right would take him back up in elevation to a popular waterfall. An easy day hike, popular with families. In midsummer this portion of the trail would be packed by 9 am, but now… it probably hadn’t seen a hiker in days. ‘Plenty of time for a detour,’ he thought to himself as he set off to the right.

He knew he had been wrong about his estimate well before he made it to the falls. The smell of smoke carried in the basin, especially down hill- and down wind. He rounded the last corner of the trail and it opened up to a beautiful waterfall. With no traffic the sound would be deafening up close. This far away it was a pleasant rushing noise.

He could see the source of the offending smell. A hiker perched on a wooden bench near the falls, their back turned to him. Their shoulders slumped forward. A cigarette dangled loosely from one hand. He circled around, calling at a normal pitch, “Hey there.” No response. He continued to circle until he was well within the other man’s field of vision-

“Jesus fucking Christ!” The other man exclaimed, and jumped. His hands came up in a defensive gesture, one leg left the ground “What the fuck-”

“Easy, easy, hey,” Eddie raised his hands in front of him and took a step forward, “I’m a ranger. Don’t worry, I’m a ranger for the park.”

The man’s eyes fell to his badge, his name tag. His open mouth closed into a grimace, but he lowered his defenses- all three limbs. “Jesus, man, why didn’t you say something? You just fucking sneak up on people like that all the time or what?”

“I did say something,” Eddie replied. He hooked his thumbs into his belt and cocked his head. “The falls are loud. Sorry, I thought I was far enough out to see.”

“Yeah, well, I’m fucking blind, I can’t see shit past here,” The man waved his hand out to demonstrate the limit of his vision.

“Oh, sorry. I guess most people wear contacts when they go hiking.”

“Well, I’m not hiking. I’m more… Walking. Outdoor walking. To a place, which happens to be outside, like, down a trail.” The man scowls out over the falls.

Eddie crosses his arms in front of him. “That sounds an awful lot like hiking to me.”

Another grimace, “Shit. It does, doesn’t it?” The man takes a deep drag of his cigarette, holds it for a moment, exhales. He freezes mid-exhale. “Fuck. Am I allowed to smoke out here? Are you here to like… outside arrest me or something?” He gestures to Eddie’s gun, holstered at his side.

“No, smoking isn’t technically disallowed… as long as there’s no fire warning.”

The man looks questioningly up at him for the bench. His blue eyes squint behind the thick black plastic frames. “And… there isn’t?”

“Correct. And take your trash with you when you leave, and that means cigarette butts.” Eddie plants his hands on his hips.

“Can do, officer…” The man leans forward, squinting hard at Eddie’s name tag. “Kavanaugh?”

“Kaspbrak. Eddie.” Eddie reaches his hand out for a shake. The stranger eyes him warily, then swaps the cigarette to his left hand, freeing up his right to shake.

“So for real, what, did I do something wrong? Why is the 5-0 out here checking up on me?”

“I take it you don’t spend a lot of time in parks?” The stranger shakes his head no. “I’m a ranger. We just kind of… have a presence. There’s a lot of land out here and not very much staff to patrol it. Right now I was on my way to check a wash out on the trail and I figured I’d come check out the falls.” He jerks his thumb over his shoulder at the falls. “One of the perks.”

The stranger takes another long drag. “It is beautiful, huh? It’s like, how does something this beautiful just like…. Happen, you know? Just randomly, one day these rocks just scrunch together just right,” The stranger socks his right fist into his left hand, “and poof. One of the most beautiful things you’ve ever seen.” He gestures, open-handed, at the falls.

“You’re just out to see the falls? At 8:30 in the morning on a weekday?” Eddie turns to inspect the falls.

“Well, you know, new year, new me. Would you believe it’s my birthday?”

Eddie turns back to the stranger, smiling politely. “Oh, happy birthday.”

The stranger drops his head and shuffles one rubber toed sneaker in the dirt. “Don’t, it’s not. It’s not my birthday...”

“Huh.”

He continues to scrape one toe in the dirt, deepening the rut. His head still hangs straight down. “I’ll be honest, officer… Eddie. I just… wasn’t feeling good.”

Eddie’s gut sank as he looked at the slumped figure before him. “You weren’t feeling good.”

“Nope. And I just… needed some alone time. And to think about some stuff.”

“Right.” Eddie walked over and sat beside the figure on the bench. He folded his hands in his lap and looked over at the ear that was level with him. “I hope I’m not overstepping, but… do you think it might be a good idea for me to walk you out of here?”

The stranger bobbed his upper body. “Yeah… yeah, I think that’s probably a good idea.”

Eddie laid one hand on the strangers shoulder, and at that he raised his head, but now Eddie was looking at the back of his head. The stranger rubbed at his face briefly with his right hand and stood up. He sniffed, loudly and turned to look down at Eddie. “I think we should probably go.” 

Eddie nodded and stood. “No time like the present, right?”

At that, they set off down the trail.


End file.
